Ruth Simmons

Ruth Simmons is professor emerita of the University of Michigan School of Public Health where she taught and conducted research regarding the implementation of family planning and related health programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The subject of scaling interventions successfully tested at the local level so as to benefit more people and foster policy and program development has been a central focus beginning with her work on the Matlab and Extension Project in Bangladesh in the 1980s. This interest led to the creation of the ExpandNet network (expandnet.net) and her involvement with the global community of practice on scaling development outcomes (scalingcommunityofpractice.com). Interventions for young people were a key concern in the projects she was involved with.